apple pie

There's nothing in the world I can think of better than a piece of homemade apple pie a la mode. I don't even like pie that much. I pass it by at the bakery. I don't order it at restaurants (even my favorite ones) and apples aren't even my favorite fruit. That being said, last summer my mom taught me how to make the perfect pie crust and since then I've been obsessed.

 I spent the summer and fall making fresh fruit pies and the winter making chicken pot pie, and pecan pie. 

My favorite part about pie is that it brings back so many nostalgic memories. Everyone has something they only like when made by their mother, and mine is pie. And besides the nostalgia, I'm making new memories with my girls. I announce I'm making pie and I get a resounding "YAY!" which feels pretty good. It's guaranteed that at some point one of them will wonder into the kitchen and ask what I'm doing. Why do you sift the flour? Why do you use ice water? How do you roll it out? What is that red thing for?

(side note: the red thing is my favorite pie-making tool. For whatever reason, putting foil on my crust just doesn't work for me. I either have to squeeze the foil down so tight that I mess up the crust, or I'm too light-handed and the foil won't stay on. My "Tan don't burn" is a life saver. You can get one here.) 

I get to share these pie-making memories with my girls, and I know that pie may not be their favorite thing either, but when they come and help me in kitchen like I helped my mom, then all of a sudden it is. Needless to say, it makes all the effort worth it.